This invention relates generally to the exercise art and, more particularly, to an improved structure for adapting a press bar of an exercise machine to the performance of squat and leg press exercises.
A number of prior weight resistance exercise machines have been provided with one station designed specifically for performance of squat exercises and another station designed specifically for performance of leg press exercises. The squat stations generally include a pair of downwardly facing pads fixed at the outer end of a weight actuating member for engagement with the upper surfaces of a person's shoulders. Likewise, the leg press stations generally have a pair of upwardly facing foot pedals mounted at the end of a weight actuating member. However, individual stations of this type are expensive to manufacture and can substantially increase the physical size of an exercise machine.
Because the shoulder pads and foot pedals of such individual stations are fixed relative to the corresponding weight actuating member, and the weight actuating member generally pivots about a fixed axis to raise and lower the weights of the machine, the orientation of the shoulder pads and foot pedals can change relative to a user during the course of an exercise. This causes discomfort for the user and forces him to execute an unnatural motion.
Another type of weight machine is constructed in a manner permitting a press station to be converted to a squat or leg press station by removing the entire press bar therefrom and attaching either a shoulder pad arrangement or a foot pedal arrangement in place of the press bar. While machines of this type are less costly than machines having entirely separate squat and leg press stations, the shoulder and foot pedal assemblies are rather bulky and difficult to interchange with the press bar in the midst of an exercise program. Furthermore, the shoulder pads and foot pedals of this type of machine are also fixed relative to a weight actuating member. However, this does not constitute a serious problem in these machines because the weight actuating member is usually constructed so that it does not pivot.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for performing squat and leg press exercises on a weight resistance exercise machine without unduly increasing the size or cost of the machine.